Most companies have some metrics to measure the performance of their employees, but very few would set professional development goals for them. That’s exactly why employees often lose interest in their job. They often feel like they are not growing as a professional. When their learning stops, employees don’t like their job any more. If you are serious about the growth of your business, you need to find a way to help your employees grow. That might mean training your employees on an ongoing basis. But before you rent training room or rent seminar room to train your employees, you must set professional development goals for them. Here are some tips on how to do that.

Help your employees communicate better

Good communication is critical to the success of any relationship. Professional relations are no exception. And communication is a skill that can be improved through training and practice. You should help your employees learn how to communicate with their clients, customers, managers and peers. Friendly, affable, concise communication channels to and from your employees is the foundation on which goals are set and achieved.

Look at the big picture

It is easy to get lost in your day-to-day operations and daily targets. For instance, when setting goals for your sales team, you may focus solely on how many calls a salesperson should do every day. That’s the recipe for disaster. If you want set professional development goals for your employees, look at the big picture. Consider the mission and vision of your company. The learning goals for your employees should align with your company objectives.

Set measurable goals

What gets measured gets managed. This famous quote by management guru Peter Drucker holds true even today. If you set vague goals for your employees, chances are that you’ll never get concrete results. For instance, rather than saying, “Our goal is to improve communication,” you should say, “We want our employees to respond to 5 irate customer emails every month.”